Growing up on the same street in New Rochelle, New York, Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor had a lot in common and became best friends. They were both bright but Michael was extremely smart. They were both personable, but Michael was very outgoing. They both went to Yale, but Michael graduated in three years and it took Jonathan four. Michael had a charmed life until the year after he graduated when he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. The Best Minds is Michael’s story before and after the diagnosis as well as how mental illness is dealt with.

This work of nonfiction is fantastic. It is part memoir, part treatise on schizophrenia, and also part description of the people and organizations who helped Michael and why it wasn’t enough. Rosen has a wry sense of humor usually directed at himself. His figures of speech are creative and usually right on. Best Minds clearly and objectively describes Michael Laudor: an exceptional person with an horrific disease.